Compression and Stretching in Graves Orbitopathy: Emergency Orbital Decompression Techniques

Visual loss from orbital compression and stretching of the optic nerve is an infrequent but well-recognized cause of dysthyroid optic neuropathy, occurring in less than 5% of thyroid eye disease cases. Another important but less recognized cause of vision loss due to thyroid-associated optic neuropathy is protracted stretching of the optic nerve. Of the reported cases of compression and stretch optic neuropathy, none have documented the rate of vision loss due to continuous stretching of the optic nerve.